


some other beginning's end

by outruntheavalanche



Series: Endgame Fix-Its/Patch-Ups/Continuations/AUs/etc. [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Minor Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Minor Character Death, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), not a fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18813136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outruntheavalanche/pseuds/outruntheavalanche
Summary: What do you say to someone who’s gone somewhere you can’t follow?





	some other beginning's end

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this is! I don't know why this happened! This isn't what I started after I saw the movie! I don't even have strong feelings about Bucky!
> 
> Endgame compliant(ish). I have a lot of Feelings™ about this movie.
> 
> Re. Steve and Peggy's kids, Jim is named after Bucky and Sam(antha) is named after Sam.

They bury Steve on a cool, crisp day a couple years after their victory over Thanos. 

Steve’s son and daughter sit together in the front row, with the grandchildren arranged on either side of them. 

(Sharon sits with them too, clasping Steve and Peggy’s wedding portrait in her hands. 

That must be strange for her, he thinks.)

Sam is here. Clint, Laura, and the kids are here. So are Scott and Hope, Pepper and Morgan, Thor and Valkyrie, Bruce. But it’s the absences that dig their claws in: Natasha should be here too. Tony should be holding little Morgan in his lap. 

The ache of all that loss still stings, even all these years later. 

Bucky’s still not entirely sure how any of this works. He still can’t shake the odd feeling of unease when he’s introduced to Steve’s children and he waits for both of them or himself—or all of them—to start fading like old newsprint left out in the sun. But Bruce says it doesn’t work like that, that he isn’t tearing holes in spacetime by chatting with Jim and Sam Rogers about their father. 

So he tries not to think about how blue Jim’s eyes are or how blond his hair is or how familiarly Sam tilts her head and smiles. 

He almost succeeds. But what would a funeral be without any ghosts? 

*** 

After everyone has drifted off for their cars, Bucky goes to stand over Steve’s stone. He had wanted to say something to him, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. What do you say to someone who’s gone somewhere you can’t follow?

Bucky shoves his hands in his pockets and clenches his fists and tries not to think about life without Steve. 

Someone wraps a hand around his elbow and squeezes. Bucky doesn’t have to turn to know who it is. 

“Hey, you hungry? Me and Lang and some of the old crew are gonna grab a late lunch,” Sam says, slipping his hand away. 

Bucky turns and meets Sam’s concerned gaze. “Yeah, sure,” he says, stealing one last glance toward Steve’s grave. “That’d be nice.”

Sam offers Bucky a smile—a little sad, but still a smile—and the two of them start off for their cars.

Bucky and Steve had reached the end of their line and there’s a hole in his life where Steve once lived and occupied so much space. But—he turns and looks at Sam by his side, catching his eye and earning a slight smile—he knows he isn’t going to be alone on the journey.


End file.
